The Texas Railroad Commission have also begun checking pipelines along the area to head off any problems that may have been caused by the Texas sinkhole. Folks from Texas Natural Resources and Conservation are also on site checking for air and water pollutants. None have been found.
Entergy, the provider of power in the area, have already cut electric lines late Wednesday. The move was done to prevent power loss in the town. It’s nice to see that response teams covering all aspects have been reacting really well to the Texas sinkhole.
Sunoco, a petroleum company, already secured a few pipelines near the Texas sinkhole. According to them, some of which have already started to leak due to the sinkhole. On television, there’s video footage of a tractor and some telephone poles falling into the Texas sinkhole. Daisetta, the town closest to the sinkhole, has a population of about 1,000 and located roughly 60 miles north-east of Houston.
The giant Texas sinkhole is estimated to be 600 feet long and 200 feet deep. That’s massive! According to local radio in the area, some roads have already been closed off and traffic diverted to other routes. Officials are also trying to determine the cause of the sinkhole. Could there have been anything to set it off? Some say that the ground could have caved in making a sinkhole, due to the collapse of an old salt dome. Salt domes are where oil brine and natural gas are stored underground. The town of Daisetta sits on a salt dome. Go figure.
According to Geoffrey Paine, a geologist and geophysicist with the University of Texas, “Sinkholes are rare and often take up to two weeks to stabilize.” Makes me wonder more about sinkholes. What exactly are they and what causes them in general?
Well, my research has turned up the following: sinkholes are natural depressions or holes in surface topology. So basically its a natural hole in the ground. Apparently, sinkholes may vary in size. Some from less than a few feet to several hundred feet both in length and depth. I guess the Texas sinkhole fits that description. In the end, I’m just glad that no one was hurt and officials are doing a great job in responding to the sinkhole.
